The Kinston-Lenoir County Visitor’s and Information Center will be hosting an event on Friday, honoring a local Civil War icon.

At 1:30 p.m., there will be a historical marker dedicated for Richard Caswell Gatlin, the only Confederate general from Lenoir County during the Civil War and the first local man to graduate from West Point Military Academy.

Gatlin was the grandson of Richard Caswell, who was the first and fifth governor of North Carolina, serving from 1776 to 1780 and 1784 to 1787.

Lucy Marston, director of Lenoir County tourism, said the event will be free to the public and reservations can be made for a tour through the area encompassing the 1862 Battle of Kinston.

“The unveiling is going to be held here, and on Friday, which is the 151st anniversary of the Battle of Kinston,” Marston said. “In honor of the battle, there will be a guided bus tour leaving the center at 2 p.m.

“Lonnie Blizzard will be the guide, and I have taken his tour before. He is historically accurate and knows interesting tales about the things that came out of battle. It’s quite entertaining.”

Blizzard, a local historian, said the tour takes people through each place where Union and Confederate soldiers fought during the two-day battle, which started Dec. 13, 1862.

“We’re basically touring around the battlefield, starting at Woodington,” Blizzard said. “We’ll be going through a number of sites and following the route out at 258 North, where the battle culminated on Dec. 14, 1862 with the Union capture of Kinston. During the Civil War, U.S. 258 was called Old Wilmington Road.”

The tour is expected to last approximately 90 minutes.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

Where: Kinston-Lenoir County Visitors and Information Center

When: Friday

Cost: Both events are free, but reservations must be made in advance for the bus tour. To make a reservation, call the visitor’s center at 252-522-0004.